Back to the past with Apple's iPhone

Grace Lu

On June 29, 2007, Apple initiated a craze that has penetrated into even Hudson High School with the first release of its revolutionary product: the iPhone.

In a survey of 182 HHS students grades 9 through 12, only one student claimed to have owned the first iPhone, but the landscape has changed immensely. Overall, approximately one-third of the students surveyed own an iPhone. With a vast majority of iPhone owners at HHS becoming a part of the iPhone mania in the last year alone, Apple is quickly spreading its popular product through the school. A look at the past of this storied phone reveals just how far it has come since its initial release.

According to “Wired,” Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs began developing the iPhone after seeing people carry cell phones and iPods, a signature Apple product. Jobs wanted to create a new mobile device that would not only combine a phone with a listening device but also constantly accumulate new features.

After the birth of the idea, Apple pursued the product. As “Macworld” Magazine stated after the release of the first iPhone, the “iPhone brings together several features of the iPod, digital camera, smart phones and even portable computing to one device, with a widescreen display and an innovative input method.”

Despite its numerous features, Jobs still wanted the dominant purpose of the iPhone to be calling. According to the HHS survey, Jobs’s vision is still being carried out among teen-agers as all iPhone users said calling and texting are the main uses of their phone.

Building upon its initial product, on July 11, 2008, Apple unveiled its second iPhone: the iPhone 3G. The 3G, standing for third generation mobile technology instead of third generation phone, added faster connection and a built-in GPS. In software updates, Apple released its App Store with this phone, allowing users to buy third-party applications for their device.

Less than a year later, the iPhone 3GS came onto the scene on June 19, 2009. This new addition to the product line added a built-in compass, a faster processor, a higher resolution camera at 3 megapixels and 480p video recording abilities. Despite improved features, the “Wall Street Journal” said most users would be satisfied with the software update, not needing to buy the new version of the phone.

Following suit, on June 24, 2010, the iPhone 4 was released, again adding more features but having a different look. The new phone sported a more box-like exterior than previous models. New features included folders for applications, iBooks, a front-facing camera and more megapixels for both cameras equipped on the new product, according to PCMag.com.

Months later, on Feb. 10, 2011, AT&T released its stranglehold on the iPhone as the sole carrier as Verizon began selling iPhones of its own. With this, AT&T ended its “three-year monopoly” on the popular phone and significantly raised the number of iPhone users, according to “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.”

Including features such as an 8-megapixel camera, 1080p video recording and voice assistant program Siri, the iPhone 4S carries on Apple’s tradition of changing the landscape of cell phones. The release of the iPhone 4S on Oct. 4, 2011 changed the regular cycle of iPhone release dates in June or July, causing much speculation about a summer or fall release date for the next generation phone.

Called by some as the “Jesus phone” for its popularity, as reported by “The Economist,” the iPhone has undergone numerous hardware and software changes to create the current product on the market. Now, five generations of iPhones have been released, with the sixth generation iPhone 5 rumored to come out in October, according to msnbc.com.

With 100 percent of iPhone users surveyed saying they would continue using iPhones as their phone of choice, many at HHS are anxiously waiting for the introduction of the newest iPhone.

One aspect has remained constant over time: the size of the iPhone screen at 3.5 inches. Will the next iPhone to be released change this tradition? Only time will tell.